Action Alerts

ACT NOW: Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Is In Jeopardy

November 14, 2018

As the 115th Congress enters its final stretch, NACNS has learned that a last-minute provision to include for-profit facilities in the Title VIII Loan Repayment Program could jeopardize passage of the entire Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization – which will provide vital support to clinical nurse specialists and other nurses.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The Title VIII NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program, one of the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs, was created to assist nurses who are willing to work in areas with critical staffing needs and depressed salaries.

• This program is already oversubscribed, so adding a provision to make for-profit facilities eligible could adversely affect nurses who rely on this loan repayment now and harm the communities they serve.

• Including for-profit facilities in the bill could mean fewer senators support it – and that’s a risk NACNS doesn’t want to take, especially because this bill would once again allow CNSs and CNS programs to compete for these essential federal funds.

NACNS is urging every member and friend to let their senators know how essential Title VIII Nursing Workforce programs are – to you, to the nursing profession and to our patients and communities. Your voice is vital to ensuring these nursing workforce programs are reauthorized this year!

Please email and call your senators TODAY to urge them to support Title VIII reauthorization in this Congress, without any last-minute provisions. For contact information, along with tips and messages, to help you reach out to your senators, go to the following links:

Contact Your Representative Now!

Full House to Vote on Bill that Includes CNSs in the List of Prescribers for MATs on

Friday, June 22, 2018

The House is now scheduled to vote on H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act on Friday, June 22. If you haven’t already contacted your Representative to support this bill, please do so now!

Section 303 of H.R. 6 makes permanent the authorization for NPs and PAs to prescribe medication assisted treatments (MATs) and expands that authorization to include CNSs, CNMs and CRNAs for five years until October 2023.

The opioid epidemic is taking a toll on individuals, families and communities across the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids killed more than 33,000 people in 2015. Additionally, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates 3.3 million Americans aged 12 or over misused prescription pain relievers in 2016.

Although Congress has increased funding for prevention, treatment and recovery in recent years, a stable, long-term investment is needed to help the hardest hit communities stem the rising tide of this epidemic. Millions of Americans still live in counties without any MAT waived provider. Section 303 addresses this gap by expanding the MAT authorization to the other APRN roles for five years.

Talking Points for H.R. 6, SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act

Opioid use and dependence are growing public health threats, despite the many actions put in place to try to curb this crisis.

Opioid overdoses cause one death every 20 minutes.

Provide examples of how the opioid crisis has affected your community and the institution where you work.

APRNs are critical agents in treating patients who experience these crises and are sometimes the sole providers of this care in regions that struggle to recruit and retain providers.

Millions of Americans still live in counties without any MAT waived provider.

H.R. 6, Support for Patients and Communities Act, addresses this gap by enabling CNSs, CNMs and CRNAs to prescribe medication-assisted treatments (MATs).

MAT — a combination of psychosocial therapy and FDA-approved medication — is the most effective intervention to treat opioid use disorder and is more effective than either behavioral interventions or medication alone.

Request that your Representative support H.R. 6 and thank him/her for his/her consideration.